More All-Star reaction from Felix Hernandez, Eric Wedge

Felix Hernandez is an All-Star for the second time. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Here’s some more reaction from Felix Hernandez and Eric Wedge about Sunday’s All-Star selections. Hernandez and Mariners closer Brandon League were each selected to the American League roster, and you can read more about League’s surprising All-Star nod in this post here.

First, some reaction from Felix. It should be noted that because he’s scheduled to pitch one week from today (Sunday, July 10, two days before the All-Star game), Hernandez could be replaced on the roster. There’s a rule now that allows the manager to replace a starting pitcher if he pitches the Sunday before the game, due to the short amount of rest.

Hernandez said he’s hoping he can throw one inning, because that day would be his scheduled bullpen session anyway. But he seemed half-joking when he said it, so that may be nothing more than a pipe dream.

(Thoughts on being selected) “I got a text message that said, ‘congratulations.’ … I told my wife, ‘I think we’re going to Arizona.’ She was excited. She was more excited than me.”

(Were you surprised?) “I was not surprised. I knew I had a chance and when they said yes, I was happy.”

(How close are you to last year?) “Close enough. I’m close, but I’m a bit inconsistent right now. I throw one game good, the other ones OK. I’ve got to be more consistent and try to do what I did last year.”

“It’s a great honor, it’s a great accomplishment. Well deserved by both those guys (Hernandez and League). As I’m sure most managers feel, we’ve got others that we feel are deserving too, but to have two players picked on the All-Star team, it’s a great accomplishment. It’s something they should both treasure.”

(On League’s season) “He’s had a great first half for us. You’ve got to have a solid closer if you’re going to be a winning ballclub and that’s the way he’s been for us. As many tight games as we’ve had this year, he’s been right there and stood tall through all of that. You’re not going to be perfect but what I do love about Leaguer is he had a tough couple of days there, but he was able to stand up to it, face it head on and come back and even be better after that.”

(His impressions of Felix so far) “He’s an impressive young man. I recognized that over the course of the winter, just doing some different functions with him. He has a great personality, he’s a good teammate, he’s a hard worker. He doesn’t let his ego get in the way. He’s grounded. He handles the good and the bad like you like to see anybody handle it. I’ve got nothing but respect for the man.”

(On Ichiro not making the team) “He’s had a heck of a run. Ichiro has had a great career, he’s worked hard this year to find it, to get back to being as productive as he’s been in the past. He’s still fighting that fight. He comes to the ballpark each and every day and prepares the way he prepares and that’s all you can do. He’s been better here the last month or so or whatever it’s been, two or three weeks, and hopefully he can be even more consistent in the second half for us.”